The Day Hunter and McCall Split Up
by Gisele
Summary: Hunter and McCall split up... as partners.


The Day Hunter and McCall Split Up  
  
A murder was committed in San Fernando Valley. Charlie assigned Hunter and McCall to the case, although he was aware that the two cops were having trouble communicating with one another in the past few months. Charlie thought it would be good if the cops paid a visit on the psychiatrist, but, as always, they were loath to do it. Every other day, Hunter and McCall had discussions over nothing - any little disagreement was enough for Hunter to pick a fight. Sometimes, it was McCall who felt like biting his head off and she didn't save harsh words to say to his partner. The last straw happened when Hunter, arriving in the precinct, looked angrily at her and said out loud:  
  
"You're such a stupid woman!" as wishing to be heard by everybody in the place.  
  
McCall stood up and yelled at him:  
  
"It's enough, Hunter! I can't stand this anymore; actually, I can't stand YOU anymore!", and left the room.  
  
Police officers were all frozen, as if a flying saucer had landed in front of them. Hunter and McCall were known by everybody as being, beside partners, good friends and never had they had such a violent argument in public. Charlie, who had heard Hunter and McCall's shouts, hurried down the corridor after McCall, to no avail. She rushed to the parking lot and sped off in her car. Hunter, who had stayed inside, screamed at his colleagues:  
  
"What are you looking at? Don't you have work to do? Mind your own business!"  
  
At that moment, Charlie returned and told Hunter:  
  
"In my office, NOW!"  
  
But Hunter, instead of following Captain's order, left the precinct, took his car and sped off, too. Charles Devane couldn't believe his eyes; the only thing he could figure out was that his two best detectives were out of their minds.  
  
The following day, Hunter and McCall were suspended from work for a month. Then, it was Charlie who was furious at both cops and he wanted neither see nor talk to them. An appointment with the psychiatrist was fixed, but Hunter didn't show up; McCall appeared, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything and gave it up. After leaving doctor's office, she decided to go after Hunter and put things straight between them, which was useless, because they kept fighting. The only thing they agreed with was that they weren't able to work together anymore; thus, Hunter and McCall spent their suspension separately and when it ended, they asked Charlie to break them up. It was the end of an era.  
  
Rick was given a new partner, a young officer named Kim Moretti and DeeDee partnered up with an old friend of hers from the Academy, Gavin Burkhard. Both were happy like dogs with big bones, but... No sooner did Hunter and Kim start working together than she began getting on Hunter's nerves. His new partner was an insecure young woman, who always was trying to prove how good she was.  
  
McCall had to face another kind of annoyance: Gavin had a crush on her and he wasn't adamant about hiding this from DeeDee - every single day there were hints, sweet- talks, off-color remarks. McCall wasn't dating anybody, but...  
  
"If I wanted to date a partner, I would have dated... Who? Am I out of my mind??? I wouldn't have dating anybody!!!" she thought.  
  
But after 6 months, things improved. Hunter and McCall were happy again with their partners and had nothing to complain - Kim had matured and started acting as a professional. Besides, married to a doctor, she had a happy marital life, which reflected on her job; Gavin gave up annoying DeeDee (even started dating another woman) and they became good friends. Things then were running smoothly.  
  
It was when, in a cold night of January, something really strange happened. McCall was undercover, working in a bar as a singer and Hunter showed up there, looking for a lead. Since the separation, they hadn't talked to each other anymore. When Hunter entered the place and saw DeeDee, he got hooked by her beautiful voice, performance and look, as if he had never seen her. She was singing a Stepfanie Kramer's song (the actress from her favorite TV series, the cop show Hunt):  
  
"If I only had one dream  
  
That would live throughout my life  
  
It would be a gentle night of loving you  
  
If I only had one dream  
  
That would live inside my heart  
  
It would whisper upon the wind  
  
A quiet prayer to you I send  
  
Your name I'd call throughout eternity  
  
To lead you back home to me  
  
We throw our hopes to heaven  
  
We cast our will to fate  
  
We're holding out for answers  
  
That seem to come too late  
  
We waited on a promise  
  
We were both afraid to see  
  
So the angels passed us over  
  
And forgot about you and me"*  
  
*Stepfanie Kramer's song  
  
It was love at first sight; such strong feeling made him forget what he was supposed to do there. While drinking beer, he thought how wonderful that woman was and kept on staring at her, which could be noticed not only by DeeDee herself but also by all people in the place. After she stopped singing, Hunter went to the "dressing room" (actually a untidy tiny room in the back of the bar) in order to talk with... that beautiful woman. The funniest thing was that DeeDee had felt the same feelings Hunter did and she talked with Rick as if she didn't know him - but showing she was very interested in that good-looking man. He invited her to go to a restaurant to have dinner (at that moment, both cops had completely forgotten about the cases they were working on), which she very much liked. By the end of the night, they were sleeping together, without saying any word about their past.  
  
But, in the morning, they talked, talked a lot. Hunter and McCall were soul mates and it took so many years to be disclosed... The fights, the harsh words spoken to each other, the discomfort at the partner, all that were about love - the love each one felt for their jobs and relationship (as partners) and the love their felt for each other (as man and woman). Deep down, they knew they were in love, but they were afraid to stop being partners - it was so good to work together that they didn't want to risk that. There was no other solution. If they admitted they were in love with each other, they would have to stop being partners, which wouldn't be good at all. They would wind up *losing* something that was very important for both of them. Because of that, instead of putting their cards on the table, they started acting like teenagers, hurting one another (in the long run, a visit to a psychiatrist would have been useful). With the new partnerships working well, they finally could bring themselves to do what they always wanted to do: to stay together forever, but as a couple. 


End file.
